Plant Your Own Garden For Under $12

It's that time of year when friends visit looking for their favorite vegetables to add to their home gardens (one of our favorite times of year). Lettuce, tomatoes, eggplants & herbs! What to grow, what not to grow? Try something new or stick with the standard? We can help you with all of these questions and more. For under $12 you can leave Fresh & Fancy Farms with vegetable and herb plants that will provide fresh produce all summer long. Here are some shots of our vegetables - come visit us today and we will help you plan your vegetable & herb garden!

Tuesday's Dirt: Herbs & Rain

The sun has been hiding, the rain has been falling and we don't mind. The flowers are happy and our field of tomatoes won't need a drink for a week or so after today! When it rains it's quiet on the farm. People are busy at work or snuggled in their homes. So it give us time to visit all of our plants and say hello. A little pruning here, a transplant there and a deep breathe. We have been planting herbs in pots, perfect for the back deck or patio. The fragrance of fresh herbs make us smile. Cilantro, chives, parsley, sage, rosemary, lemon thyme, mint, pineapple sage, oregano and more. They are all unique and can add life to your favorite dish, drink or cup of tea. So visit us for all your flowers, shrubs, trees and vegetables...but don't forget your herbs!

How To: Preserve Your Herbs!

If I were an herb, I would want to be rosemary. It’s pretty, smells good and is pest-resistant. Not to mention it comes from the Latin words ros marinus aka dew of the sea. In many locations it needs no other water than the humidity carried by the sea breeze to live. Sounds nice right! Okay, enough about me. There is nothing like growing and cooking with your own herbs. I can almost guarantee what you’re serving will suddenly taste magical. This past summer was a learning experience for myself; filled with trial and error, sunshine and rain. I went from taking care of a small potted herb garden to being the official caretaker of a farms worth of herbs at Fresh & Fancy Farms.

And with summer at its end and herbs on their last life, storing them seems like a wonderful option!  I am going to give you a few tips on how to store your herbs so you can enjoy them year round.

Oh and we’re going to keep it simple, because simple is good. You will do one of two things with your herbs, hang dry or freeze. Hang drying works best for herbs that don’t have high moisture content (oregano, rosemary, thyme). For moisture dense herbs (basil, chives, mint, sage) using a dehydrator or freezing them is best.

DRY

1. Cut your herbs. Check them out and make sure you’re not selecting anything that doesn’t look up to par – no mold, dry spots, or signs of disease.

2. Wash them and let them dry really well. You don’t want any mold growing.

3. Remove lower leaves from the bottom of the branch/stem.

4. Bundle and secure your herbs together using string, wire, binder clips, etc.

5. Hang them in a dry, warm (not humid) place for about two weeks.

6. Store in labeled and dated zip lock bag or mason jar.

FREEZE

1. Follow steps 1&2

2. Chop up your moisture dense herb and place 1/3 in an ice cube tray and fill the remainder with water.

3. Once frozen throw them into a large labeled and dated zip lock bag.

4. You can also take the whole leaf and store them in zip lock bag – that works too!

3 Things to Enjoy Before the Leaves Begin to Change

Summer is winding down and we are headed straight for fall. But before we get ourselves too excited about crisp pumpkins and colorful mums we are going to enjoy what’s left of the world’s warmest season. Here are three things we are going to hold onto before the leaves begin to change. 1. Fresh herbs  One of our favorite things is to grow fresh herbs. Sage, rosemary, basil, oregano, you name it we grow it. If you have enough space indoors for colder months, bring your herbs indoors. If not, dry them and use them for your fall and winter cooking. Later this month we will have an herb drying “how to” so stay tuned.

2. Homegrown vegetables It’s about that time when your vegetables are in their prime! Six cucumbers here, 12 tomatoes there, you have an over abundance and soon it will be winding down so enjoy them! There is nothing more exciting than harvesting homegrown vegetables so don’t let anything go to waste, jar some salsa or pickle those cucumbers!

3. Final blooms Currently at the farm we are offering our hanging baskets for $10. Yes, we said it, $10 buckaroos! The flowers are still blooming and are sure to brighten any yard. Don’t take those final annual blooms for granted. Sit back, relax and enjoy the flowers!